Avalanche Incident
Avalanche Incident
Public Forecast of Weather and Backcountry Avalanche Conditions
April 2, 1998.
We had our fifth avalanche fatality for Colorado yesterday at St Marys Glacier. A Female learning to hike on snow was at the steep section at the bottom of the snow field. She fell and slid down the slope, at the bottom the slide was triggered. Both she and her companion were caught, she was buried shallowly, with an arm and a leg exposed at the surface. He had a shovel, neither had beacons. The accident happened at 11:40 AM. He searched for 40 minutes before running for help. The debris pile was quite large, with large blocks of snow. The slide was 2-4 feet deep at the fracture, on a SE aspect, 1500ft wide, 2000 vertical feet. It slid on a hard ice layer.
By Kristen Kromer, Special to The Denver Post
April 2 - An avalanche in Clear Creek County Wednesday killed one woman, while the man she was hiking with escaped without injury.
The two, identified as Tamar Sylvia Cohen, 38, of Littleton and Roy Krumwiede of Denver, hiked up the north side of St. Mary's Glacier. As they crossed the top, Cohen slipped and fell, triggering the avalanche about 11:30 a.m.
Cohen and Krumwiede were both caught in the avalanche, but Krumwiede was able to dig himself out and notify someone to call for help, according to Tom Rhodes, law enforcement officer for the U.S. Forest Service. "They were hiking without ropes or crampons," said Rhodes, who was first on the scene. "A lot of people come out here just to hike, but it's pretty dangerous. It's a pretty steep snowfield up there."
The avalanche was approximately 300 feet by 400 feet by 8 feet deep, according to Pam Babeon, administrative assistant at the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Department.
Krumwiede and other nearby hikers searched for Cohen for about 40 minutes before contacting Alpine Search and Rescue, which dispatched 18 rescuers armed with avalanche shovels, probes and beacons, to assist with recovery and evacuation.
"It was a tragic accident,'' said Bill Barwick, public information officer for the Alpine Rescue Team. "The snowpack was not stable up there, and when they stepped on it, they fell."
By the time rescue crews found her, Cohen had been buried about two hours.
"People need to get training (for hiking in snow country)," Rhodes said. "They need to carry beacons, and always go with someone. Though the beacons won't necessarily save lives, having them sure cuts down on search time."
Though Clear Creek County is considered "avalanche country,'' Rhodes said he doesn't usually see many accidents. This year, however, may be different.
Around New Year's, an avalanche death occurred at Duck Lake near Guanella Pass, and March 1 at Berthoud Pass an avalanche killed a 20-year-old snowboarder, Barwick said.
Man digs himself out of snow; team finds body after 3-hour hunt
Hector Gutierrez - Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
A Littleton woman sightseeing with a friend was killed Wednesday by an avalanche at St. Mary's Glacier.
Her companion, Roy Krumwiede of Denver, dug himself out of the snow and searched frantically for Tamar Sylvia Cohen, 38, for about 40 minutes before running for help.
"He did everything he possibly could do," Bill Barwick, Alpine Rescue Team spokesman, said.
Bystanders, Clear Creek County sheriff's deputies and Alpine Rescue formed a search team.
A U.S. Forest Service officer who was the first on the scene found Cohen's body about three hours after she was buried.
"This really should have never happened," Barwick said.
Clear Creek County sheriff's deputies said Cohen and Krumwiede spent the morning sightseeing at St. Mary's Glacier Lake. Temperatures were in the upper 50s and the avalanche danger was high.
The two decided to walk up a path on the glacier, but on the way down Cohen decided to walk across the snow. Krumwiede followed behind her, the Alpine Rescue Team said.
The couple's weight on the mountainside unleashed the 400-by-400 foot avalanche that reached a depth of eight feet in some places, Barwick said.
"In walking down they broke the surface tension of the snow and were caught in a slab avalanche," he said. "Both of them were entrapped, and the male got himself unstuck and he went down looking for the girl. She was below him."
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